MI
#0
The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.
Why is the opening sentence removing Christ from Christmas and replacing him with humanism?
Christianity did not come with tidings of great joy, but with a message of eternal grief. It came with the threat of everlasting torture on its lips. It meant war on earth and perdition hereafter.
Doesn\'t Luke 2:14 state \"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.\"?
It taught some good things -- the beauty of love and kindness in man. But as a torch-bearer, as a bringer of joy, it has been a failure. It has given infinite consequences to the acts of finite beings, crushing the soul with a responsibility too great for mortals to bear. It has filled the future with fear and flame, and made God the keeper of an eternal penitentiary, destined to be the home of nearly all the sons of men. Not satisfied with that, it has deprived God of the pardoning power.
How about the 1000\'s of Holy Martyrs, Ascestics, Fools for Christs, Unmercenaries, Prophets, Wonderworkers, Apostles, and those who bore their crosses with faith and love prove otherwise?
And yet it may have done some good by borrowing from the Pagan world the old festival called Christmas.
The only value we have of celebrating the birth of Christ is from what we borrowed from Pagans?
Long before Christ was born the Sun-God triumphed over the powers of Darkness. About the time that we call Christmas the days begin perceptibly to lengthen. Our barbarian ancestors were worshipers of the sun, and they celebrated his victory over the hosts of night. Such a festival was natural and beautiful. The most natural of all religions is the worship of the sun. Christianity adopted this festival. It borrowed from the Pagans the best it has.
If any of these things prove true to Christianity, its only because they were a primitive foreshadowing of what was to come through Christ.
I believe in Christmas and in every day that has been set apart for joy. We in America have too much work and not enough play. We are too much like the English.
This is just silly!
I think it was Heinrich Heine who said that he thought a blaspheming Frenchman was a more pleasing object to God than a praying Englishman. We take our joys too sadly. I am in favor of all the good free days -- the more the better.
This is a very good example of the \"eat, drink and be merry, for tommorow we may die\" which the Holy Prophet Isaiah spoke against.
Christmas is a good day to forgive and forget -- a good day to throw away prejudices and hatreds -- a good day to fill your heart and your house, and the hearts and houses of others, with sunshine."
Oh how nice, a remotely christian message in this so called \"Christmas\" sermon.
By; Robert G. Ingersoll.
Maybe nextime, instead of Robert G. Ingersoll we could use St. John Chrysostom or one of the many other Holy Fathers who wrote many beautiful sermons on the birth of our Lord.
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John Chan
#3
I admit when I read the message, I raised my eyebrows, one at a time...
Robert Ingersoll was agnostic in his worldview. I\'m grateful that he at least expressed some (teensy weensy) Christian sentiment for the season.
Perhaps (in an attempt to re-direct this thread) rather than displaying our disdain, we can post something we learned this Nativity.
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EC
#2
It sounds to me like he was a disgruntled Calvinist who didn\'t know where to turn except to agnosticism. He was sort of right about one thing though, the message of grief. Yes, the angels proclaimed the glad tidings and it was of course cause for rejoicing, but...Christ was wrapped in swaddling clothes, right? Well, look at an Orthodox icon of the Nativity. Those \"swaddling clothes\" are shown as burial wrappings on the baby Jesus, in anticipation of his Death and Burial and Resurrection. But even if the wrappings are a showing of why He came to earth and His death, they too are also a cause for joy--the joy of Pascha.
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MH
#1
Forgive me if i sounded harsh... but i felt it was necessary to raise a point about this.
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